Russia’s military said early Friday that its air defense systems destroyed 83 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions and annexed Crimea overnight, with at least one of the drones crashing into an oil depot and sparking a fire.
In southern Russia’s Stavropol region, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said an unmanned aircraft “fell” into an oil depot in the town of Svetlograd, adding that no one was injured in the incident.
A video published by anonymous Telegram news channels purportedly showed the moment the drone struck the facility and ignited a blaze. A second video appeared to show the fire having been extinguished.
The depot, owned by state oil giant Rosneft, can store up to 6,700 cubic meters of fuel products, according to the energy news website neftegaz.ru.
Meanwhile, in the western Bryansk region, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said air defense systems shot down 38 drones between Thursday night and Friday morning. He did not report any injuries.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed only 20 drones over the Bryansk region. In the neighboring Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in early August, the army said it downed 36 drones.
Another 12 drones were intercepted over annexed Crimea, the army said. Eight drones were also destroyed over the southern Voronezh region, four over the Orlov region and three over the Belgorod region.
Also on Friday, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia launched a record 2,023 drones against Ukraine in October — around half of which were repelled.
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